BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• BCE Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from thirteen brokerages, with two analysts advising to sell, seven to hold, and three to buy the stock.
• The average 12-month price target for BCE shares among analysts is C$34.88, with varying price adjustments from different brokerages.
• BCE announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, yielding approximately 5.4%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$34.88.

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. CIBC raised their price objective on BCE from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$34.00 to C$32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$40.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$51.00 to C$35.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

BCE Trading Down 1.3%

TSE BCE opened at C$32.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73. BCE has a twelve month low of C$28.73 and a twelve month high of C$49.13. The firm has a market capitalization of C$29.70 billion, a PE ratio of 70.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day moving average is C$33.58 and its 200 day moving average is C$31.98.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 745.65%.

BCE Company Profile

BCE is both a wireless and internet service provider, offering wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the big three national wireless carriers, with its roughly 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrierthe legacy telephone provider) throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provincesOntario and Quebec.

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